What? Oh, is this me back with new chapters already? Hope you guys like them :)
Story Note: Season 2. Nates secret: Fedoras
A Shrine Of Fedoras
It started with a spilt drink. Cliché, I know. But you know how when you're just having a bad day and fretting and flailing and nothing seems to go right? Yeah, it was one of those days.
This con was especially stressful on the Grifter of the group. She was playing 2 parts with 2 different cons and a handbasket full of accents and costumes. Not to mention she had to help Nate with the con and she had to worry about Parker being Parker and, well, overall she was just overwhelmed.
They had been working on the con and had lost track of time. By now it was already 11:34 and neither of them had realized it. They were going over plans and schematics and this and that, and the pot of coffee had already run out and they had started a new one.
"Well if we can't get through the back door, the front door, the window, or the roof do you expect us to tunnel under the building?" Sophie asked sarcastically, jabbing her finger at the blueprints.
"Yep."
"You're not serious are you?" She asked, sitting up completely and looking straight at him.
"I'm completely serious. We need to get under the building and work our way up. We can't just spider man up the top the building and go down through the roof. We'll trip the alarms."
"Hardison can take care of those."
"No he can't. He needs physical access to the server, which is why you and Parker need to crawl up the air ducts," Nate said confidently, pointing to the small room on the basement floor. He almost has to keep himself from laughing; she was so adorable when she was angry. And her haircut added to it.
"No! I'm not crawling through bloody airducts! Especially not with Parker," She puffed. Nate only chuckled. "Oh sod off, Nathan."
"I'm going to get some more coffee." He stood up and walked over to the coffee pot. She continued to ramble on about how she wasn't going to do this or that. The sound of her heels clicking over the wooden floor became more fast paced and he could almost see her waving her arms around. He finished pouring his scalding hot coffee and then turned around.
She was right there.
He jumped in fright, the cup slipping out of his hand and the boiling coffee spilling all over her. She yelped in pain, taking a few steps back.
"Sophie! Sophie, are you alright? Dammit. Sorry about that. I didn't know you were standing right there."
She was holding her self, a whining pain coming from her as she tried to hold back tears. "This really hurts," she hissed.
"I said sorry!"
"Sorry won't make the pain go away you idiot!" Her face contorted into pain as her skin crawled with an itchy, burning fire. "A little help would be nice!"
Nate, who had already been trying to get the stuff he needed, snapped back. "I'm working on it. Will you hold on a second. Take off your shirt."
"But it hurts!"
He made an exasperated noise and slammed the cupboard shut. He pushed her arms away from her body and tore her shirt open, buttons popping off and going everywhere. She was burned mostly down the center of her stomach and chest, and it really did look painful. "Alright go upstairs. I'll be up in a moment."
She quickly left to go upstairs. Her heart seemed to be pounding in her chest because of the sensitivity now there. Gently, she pressed her fingers to the burn on her stomach. Pain shot through her skin and her veins pulsed beneath her touch. She pulled her hand away and brought it up to wipe her tears away. His bed was made and his room was spotless much like she expected. Pulling the ripped blouse off slowly, she let it drop to the floor. She cautiously got onto his bed and laid down, enjoying it for just a small moment before he walked in.
He stopped in his tracks. The sight in front of him was way too good to not enjoy. His rate sped up as he walked over to her. "You're staying here tonight. Soon it's going to be too painful for you to bend down or lean back and it's far too late for you to be driving home."
"I appricate the concern but I can take care of myself." She shifted on his bed so she could kick her shoes off but then yelped as pain shot through her torso. "Okay, nevermind, you were right."
He just gave her a look. "So...how are you taking the breakup?" He asked this purely in his own self-interest. Ever since she'd become single again, he'd been trying to hit it off with her, but somehow he got kicked with a foot full of coward. Pretty much he was failing miserably.
"Fine I guess. Why do you care?"
He looked her in the eyes. "What? I can't be concerned about you?"
When he looked her in the eyes she knew he was about to lie or cover up for something. She was right. Sometimes he could be too easy. "Oh, you can be concerned, but maybe next time when you're lying don't look me in the eyes," She said with a wink.
"I'm not lying."
"But you didn't give me the right answer."
He shook his head dismissively. "Anyways..." He hesitated slightly before the words spilled from his mouth. "Can you take your bra off?"
"What?!" She exclaimed, taken off guard by the sudden, almost inappropriate, question. "Why-why would I need to do that?"
"Because I'm trying to treat your burns and it's in the way."
"No way in bloody hell!"
"Sophie."
"No!"
"Sophie!" He yelled again, getting more aggravated with her. Of course he respected her and her limitations but he did really need to take care of her burns. "Look, it's only going to irritate your skin so it would be better if you just took it off."
Now with a little bit more of an explanation she caved. "Okay, fine, whatever." With a pause and a rethink she stopped him. "But don't you dare make a big deal about it."
"Alright. I respect you enough to do that." When she didn't move to take it off he hesitated. Was she expecting him to do it? She gave him an expectant look. So that was a yes. He put a hand on her upper back and lifted her up gently, unclasping it with his fingers quickly before setting her back down.
"You're quick," She breathed, voice rough and filling with lust. Only as his fingers grazed against the skin of her back did she realize how turned on she'd become. Her heart rate was thumping in her chest as he slowly pulled it over her arms and tossed it to the side. She saw his eyes grow to nearly the size of dinner plates before he tore his eyes away. That only made her squirm on the bed.
"I'll just get your burns treated and then you can borrow one of my shirts that's too big on you so it won't rub against your skin," He said quickly. "And I'll sleep downstairs on the couch and you can sleep up here."
"Yeah, alright, fine, whatever," She stuttered, her jaw seeming to lock in excitement. From where she lay she could see he was trying his best not to look at her. While she so badly wanted to tease him about his incapability to be proffesional about this, she knew that if she were in his place she would be having the same issues.
"Okay...uh...let me know if it's uncomfortable..."
She nodded. She hoped he wouldn't be able to feel her heart beat in her chest, as it was going off the charts. For some odd reason it didn't feel uncomfortable...it felt (beside the burning pain) sexually frustrating. His hands pressed gently against her skin, making her gasp. The cool feeling of whatever he was using (she hadn't cared to look) made goose bumps pop up like popcorn on her skin. She hissed in pain as he spread it down the length of her burn. "Careful!"
"I'm trying," He grumbled. He knew she wouldn't like having the cool, slimy Aloe Vera all over her skin, but it would hurt much worse if he didn't. As he did this, he did his very best to be professional about the situation. His hand stayed over her heart just long enough for him to feel the fast beat of her heart. He pulled his hands away, finished with her burn, and getting up from his spot. "I'm gonna go wash my hands...uh, don't move."
"Wasn't planning on it," She retorted boredly, almost a childish hint in the tone of her voice.
"Hmph." He walked into the bathroom, quickly washing and drying his hands. When he came back he saw she was staring up at the ceiling and not paying attention to him. For a second he let his eyes rest on her exposed body and he felt a strong wave of desire wash through him. He needed her. And badly. He walked over to her and sat down. She didn't look at him. "Hey...look at me."
She looked at him. The look in his eyes made her stop for a moment. There was a glint there...a slightly mischievous smirk on his face. Her eyes narrowed briefly before he was leaning down and his lips were on hers. She gasped quietly. His mouth was slow against hers and she responded quickly. It was all over too soon. "Nate..."
"Goodnight...I'll see you in the morning." And with that he was gone.
OoO
The first thought that popped into Sophie Devereauxs mind when she woke up the next morning was how much her whole torso hurt. She groaned in pain as she rolled over onto her back. The blanket shifted over the raw spot on her body, making her jerk back in pain and causing her head to hit the headboard. She groaned again. She pushed the covers off and unsteadily got out of bed, face contorting at the pain. Carefully, she made her way over to the closet and opened the doors. What she saw made her jaw drop.
Rows and rows of fedoras. They were colorful, old, big, new, patterned, and some with prints on them. She saw ones that looked as though they had never been worn and a few in boxes down below. It was absolutely horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. There were ones with big stripes and small strips, and stars and circles - her eyes throbbed from the sight. Slowly she reached out to grab one of them when suddenly someone was in front of her and the closet door slammed shut.
"What are you doing?!" Nate demanded, his breathing heavy and his eyes bulging. He was standing stiff as a skyscraper with his sweaty hands holding the doors shut. His heart pounded irregularly in his chest as he stood there - on guard.
"I was looking for a shirt..."
He nudged his head over to the other closet doors. "Over there."
She shot him a strange look before walking over to the other one. "That's quite the collection of fedoras you have," She observed as she looked around for a shirt. "Nate, these are all suits and dress shirts."
"Uh, um, l-look in the-the dresser over there!"
He had not moved from his spot, looking at the ground, and practically boring holes in it. Was he that embarrassed about her knowing about his collection of fedoras? or was it the fact the top half of her body was completely exposed? She pulled open the first drawer to see that it was his boxers and socks. She shut it quickly. Luckily the next drawer she tried had his t-shirts in it. Grabbing one of his black ones, she slipped it over her head and then unbutton her jeans and slid them off.
"Do you mind if I stay here?"
"For what reason?" He replied without looking up. Why did she have to look at his closet? It was purely humiliating. Nobody knew about his collection...he didn't want them to think he was weird.
"Nathan...look at me."
He looked up, eyes traveling very slowly over her smooth, bronze legs. His black shirt hung just low enough to drive him crazy and send a surging pulse of need through him. He forced his eyes up to her face. She was looking at him in all her simplistic beauty and it was all he needed to falter and cave. "Yeah...you can stay."
"Thank you, but I wanted to talk about that," She gestured to the closet behind him. "You do know it's alright?"
"It's not alright Sophie! I didn't want you - or anyone really - to find out because I didn't want you to think I was weird." He admitted this sheepishly because he wasn't quite sure what else to say. His face was burning bright red and he looked down again to hide it from her. "I'm embarrassed, alright?"
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about Nate." She saw his grip on the handles lessen just slightly, or maybe he was just shifting - it was hard to tell. A few things flashed across her mind, and suddenly she was walking towards him. Looking into his eyes, she smiled, her own eyes a little innocent and devious. "Now...why don't we go have breakfast?"
Kind of abrubt ending but I couldn't think of how to end it ~
